Update for the week

This week the students were introduced to the 5 E lab format that we will be completing for upcoming labs and science classroom activities. The students seemed to understand the 5 E's and came up with some interesting and unique ways to understand what each E meant and how we could incorporate them into our science activities and labs. I am pleased with their understanding so far but I am a little worried about their understanding when it comes actually incorporating the ideas into each lab. For my 7th and 8th graders this week the activities were structured around parts of a cell and the structures in a cell. Students worked in groups to create a gelatin cell model where they had to come up with different craft/home/food supplies to use for their organelles. They also had to create a key and write a paper that described the function of each organelle and their rationale for why they chose those specific objects/items. Overall this was an activity where students stayed very engaged and worked hard to complete their tasks. There were some issues with specific students participating with their group, sharing the amount of work in a group and with the items that were brought in (ie: students who brought candy in thought they should be able to eat the extra candy).

Next week I look forward to introducing the first activity using the 5 E format and incorporating the 5 E format into other facets of our curriculum as well as daily activities. I will continue to watch to see student engagement and the ways that I can increase student engagement.

The Students are Noticing!

My students are already noticing changes in the classroom this year. We spent more time discussing expectations, playing getting acquainted activities and catching up than last year. It feels like a calmer start to the school year. I can tell that students are taking more ownership of the rules and expectations and from that comes more hands-on learning. There have also been changes in our science curriculum this year. We purchased a science curriculum titled "Interactive Science" where instead of textbooks the students have workbooks. They can write, highlight and take notes right in their book. They are also enjoying the variety of mini-labs and activities that have are connected to this curriculum. I can see and feel their enthusiasm for science and I am hopeful this will continue for the year!

AR Question and Action

I am exploring the world of action research and through my action research I will be focusing on the question "How does a shift from a teacher-centered classroom to a student-centered classroom increase student engagement in the middle school science classroom?"

 In order to answer this question I have planned to integrate a five part plan into my daily science curriculum with the focus being on labs and experiments. The five parts include: engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration and extension and evaluation. These five parts will be the outline for the labs and activities completed in the science classroom. Students will learn about the five parts and will set-up and complete their labs using these five components. It is my hope through these five steps that students will be more engaged in their science learning and will feel that their classroom is student-centered.